Blogs and Commentary

Monday Notebook: MCLA Division I

- The most surprising victory of the weekend was Michigan
State's win over defending Division II national champion Davenport.
It wasn't surprising that the Spartans won – they are the
No. 6 team in Division I – but the narrowness of the
score was stunning: 13-12 in double overtime. My initial thought
was, 'Does Michigan State have a lot of work to do or is Davenport
loaded for another title run?'

"I would say both," said Michigan State head coach Dwayne Hicks.
"This was MSU's second time on the field. Last week we played
against Denison and got our feet wet, and this week we played
Davenport, which is a very good team. We definitely have a lot to
work on, but I will give Davenport a lot of credit. They
capitalized on a lot of our mistakes and made this a very good
game."

The Spartans raced out to a 7-2 lead to start the game, and
looked to be on the cusp of blowing the doors off, but the Panthers
kept battling, and were aided by some erratic shooting by
State.

"Davenport is a scrappy team and we allowed them to beat us on
groundballs," Hicks said. "That's the name of the game. Ground
balls led to fast breaks, which led to goals. Transition will be
something we will be working on to prepare for Arizona State. That,
and hitting the goal. We had 46 shots and scored 13 goals. First
game jitters, I hope."

Hicks said close defender Wes Binder was the standout for the
Spartans, while a one-on-one save by junior goalie Jake Nyenhuis in
the first overtime saved MSU's bacon. Hicks has three weeks to prep
his team for No. 2 Arizona State in Tempe.

- The Sun Devils started to ramp up toward the regular season
with a scrimmage against Grand Canyon – a team that beat
Arizona in a scrimmage, 9-5 earlier this winter. ASU head coach
Chris Malone hoped to find out what his attack, which will feature
three freshmen, will look like this spring.

"I'm not sure what they are made of," said Malone of his front
line prior to the Grand Canyon scrimmage. "They have talent, but
can they put it together? Today is a day where we find out if these
kids have been paying attention. I feel like we are very strong in
the goal and on faceoffs. Our defense is solid. It's the offense
that I'm worried about."

The Devils beat the 'Lopes, 9-4, so the jury is probably still
out on the ASU attack. Malone & Co., start the regular season
against Stanford in L.A. this weekend.

- The defending champions jumped into the weekend with both
feet, playing three consecutive games, including two on the road in
Boise. It's difficult not to look at the Cougars' 12-8 victory over
UNLV on Thursday through the prism of Chapman's 21-4 rout of the
Rebels the week before, but it's best not to analyze comparative
scores. They really mean nothing (other than the end result). BYU
predictably dismissed Boise State on Friday, 15-3, and capped off
the weekend by fending off No. 18 Simon Fraser, 14-10.

"The Cougars are the defending champs for a reason and their
experience gave them enough of an advantage during certain points
in the game to make a difference," said Fraser head coach Brent
Hoskins. "They are extremely well coached and play with a lot of
maturity."

The competition level spikes considerably next weekend when the
Cougars travel to face No. 4 Chapman and No. 7 Cal Pol in a
three-day span. This weekend was a successful one for BYU on one
level, but it leaves open some questions as to whether the champs
are anywhere near peak performance.

- Florida head coach Ryan Winters picked up his 50th career win
with the 17-9 victory over divisional foe South Florida...despite
it's 0-3 start against Division I teams, I still think Central
Florida is a Top 25 team...Texas knocked off Texas State, but
Johnny McKnight is not on the 'Horns roster. That hurts...solid
wins by both Oregon (against Cal) and Sonoma State (vs. Washington)
this weekend...UCSB's 7-6 win over Stanford was an uneventful start
to Mike Allan 2.0...give it up to Iowa for not upsetting Wisconsin
in the opener, but the Hawkeyes are now 2-0 after bouncing St.
Cloud...Boise State stunned No. 18 Simon Fraser on Sunday
afternoon, 15-14.